 |
|
GISBORNE, NEW ZEALAND - 2008
|
During April 2008 a hunting party made up of Steve King, Dave Bedford and myself went to a favorite hunting location near Gisborne, N Zealand. On this unique location there are many big Red Stags with big heads due to their genetics and the excellent feed they have access to from nearby farmlands. The Stags are wild deer, not farmed for the American market. I was after a very good representative Red Stag with at least 14 points and passed up many good stags because they were not what I was looking for. |
 |
 |
On the third morning, I noticed what appeared to
be Red Stag across the valley at about 300 meters. For well over an
hour we tried to identify that he was in fact a representative stag
that I was looking for. We could not get any closer because there
was no cover between us and the stag. It took an agonizing wait for
the stag to finally present itself broadside with the range finder
giving the distance at 340 meters. |
|
At the shot, the stag simply collapsed on the spot as if struck by lightening. Although Dave knew I was using a 25-06 caliber, he queried me on what bullets I was using because he had not seen that kind of performance from that caliber at such a long range before. I told him I was using an 85 grain GS Custom Bullet leaving the muzzle at close to 3500 feet per second. He was absolutely astounded at the performance of the GS Custom Bullet. |
 |
It took half an hour to get to the stag and we were presented with a beautifully symmetrical head with a total of 15 points and a big body. Dave pointed out that there was only a small exit wound. I told him that the bullet is designed to shed its petals at that velocity and that the effect will be that the heart-lung area would be shredded. When we gutted the animal Dave was again astounded, this time at the internal damage in the chest cavity. The solid bullet shank had exited with a hole of about a 20c coin, having done the damage in the chest cavity.
We butchered the stag and carried out the meat. That evening at the hut Steve, Dave and I got to talking about the virtues of Blaser rifles and the excellent performance of the GS Custom bullets which we had bought at the Sika Show from Martin Bester (New Zealand and Australian GS Custom Agent (+64 09 2988256, +64 0275484677 or martin@smartbest.co.nz) in 2005. Steve and I have shot many animals with GS Custom bullets (Sika, Pigs, Reds, Sambar, Fallow, Chital, Wallabies and even Rabbits) and are accustomed to this type of performance. Typically, the animal collapses at the shot and do not run off. There is usually an exit wound as well. Neale Macaulay, New Zealand
